To: Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
We Want An Audit Of The Social Security Trust Fund
We the American people demand an Audit of the Social Security Trust Fund, complete with monies taken in and monies taken out in any form. Along with detailed information how any monies taken out was spent, i.e.; to include government agencies & civilian agencies (both foreign and domestic) with detailed accounting of exactly how all monies have been used. As well as demand that all monies be repaid per original conditions of the Greenspan Commission or sooner if the need exists to keep our trust fund solvent. Further we demand that all proceedings in these matters be public and that Washington cease and desist from spending any further trust fund monies on anything other than Social Security Administration and payments to eligible retirees and those disabled as soon as possible until this audit of accounting has finished.
Washington needs to keep the promises made in 1983 by raising the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans and paying the other 98% of lower income Americans the money they borrowed and in some cases so frivolously spent to the benefit of their corporate donors!
Why is this important?
On Friday the 29th of July, 2011 during C-Span’s Washington Journal1 it was revealed that the Social Security Trust Fund has a surplus of $22 Trillion while various politicians have indicated there is only $2.6 Trillion in the trust. This is a difference of $19.4 Trillion and would indicate all the rhetoric of how Social Security is a ponzi scam, is going broke, needs to be overhauled or done away with all together is not true at all, but rather it is a robust federal run insurance policy for the American people to ensure their livelihood during retirement. (See: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/OpenPhones7411)
In 1983 while Ronald Reagan was President, the Greenspan Commission came up with a plan to save Social Security; this plan was agreed to by the Congress and became Law. Under the plan excess monies where to be made available to the US Treasury in the form of bonds to be paid back through the raising of revenue by tax increases to the wealthy when the baby boomers started to retire. The repayment was to begin in 2018 or sooner if necessary.
Obviously things have happened that now require monies begin being paid back sooner, i.e.; the financial crisis of 2009, two unpaid for wars, military operations going on in 120 different countries, unpaid for Bush tax rates, etc. It is apparent that even monies were spent from the trust fund above the surplus as well since President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner both said they could not promise Social Security checks would go out after August the second unless the debt ceiling was raised. The only way Social Security checks wouldn’t be able to be paid would be if the money wasn’t in the fund to cover them or if they were lying.
Washington is now posturing on reneging on the contract with the American people even though they have upheld their end of the contract by paying into the fund their entire working careers. It is evident the only reason for cutting Social Security would be if Washington didn’t want to pay the trust fund money back and continue using it to pay for wars, tax cuts to the wealthy and other pet projects.
We cannot allow our representatives to sell us out to Wall Street and the Mega-Corporations again. Please sign and help promote this petition to audit and demand repayment of our money.
Recommended Reading And Source Material:
1.C-Span Washington Journal – a. (07292011) – Telephone lines were open for questions and comments on news of the day. Bob Cusack and Peter Coy spoke about debt and deficit reduction legislation that was withdrawn from confederation in the House late the previous evening. (http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/OpenPhones7411) b. (08042011) – Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek, Economics Editor discusses his recent Bloomberg Businessweek cover story entitled “Why The Debt Crisis is Even Worse Than You Think.” ( http://www.c-span.org/Events/Washington-Journal-for-Thursday-August-4/10737423287-3/ )
2. The Forest – Where is the Missing 22 Trillion? ( http://theforestappb.org/?p=1875 )
3. Daily Kos - $22 trillion Social Security surplus revealed on C-SPAN ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/29/1000366/-$22-trillion-Social-Security-surplus-revealed-on-C-SPAN?via=siderec )
4. Democratic Underground – $22 trillion Social Security surplus revealed on C-SPAN ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1606963 )
5. Sherrie Questioning All - Washington Journal - Social Security is very well funded - Peter Coy of Bloomberg calls it an entitlement and says cuts need to be made - but is set straight by truth in Video! ( http://sherriequestioningall.blogspot.com/2011/07/washington-journal-social-security-is.html )
6. Sibel Edmonds' Boiling Frogs Post - The Unanswered Question of “Social Security Surplus” ( http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/08/14/bfp-independent-perspective-social-security-math-doesn%E2%80%99t-add-up-2/ )
7. The Christian Science MOnitor - Social Security crisis? Not if wealthy pay their way ( http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0127/p09s01-coop.html )
8. Social Security Online - a. Greenspan Commission: Report of the National Commission on Social Security Reform, January 1983. ( http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/gspan.html ) b. Research Note #20: The Social Security Trust Funds and the Federal Budget. http://www.ssa.gov/history/BudgetTreatment.html ) c. News Release Social Security Board of Trustees: Projected Trust Fund Exhaustion One Year Sooner. ( http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/trustee11-pr.htm )
9. Forbes - What Happened to the $2.6 Trillion Social Security Trust Fund? ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2011/07/13/what-happened-to-the-2-6-trillion-social-security-trust-fund/ )
10. Mother Jones - Alan Simpson, Social Security Illiterate ( http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/05/alan-simpson-social-security-illiterate )
11. AlterNet - Our Commando War in 120 Countries: Uncovering the Military's Secret Operations In the Obama Era. ( http://www.alternet.org/investigations/151904/our_commando_war_in_120_countries%3A_uncovering_the_military%27s_secret_operations_in_the_obama_era )
12. FAIR (Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting) - Pete Peterson’s Media Empire Conflicts are OK when you have an anti-entitlement agenda ( http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4106%E2%80%9D )
13. Center For Economic And Policy Research - Tell Market Place, Peter Peterson Spent $1 billion of His Own Money to Cut Social Security. ( http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/tell-market-place-peter-peterson-spend-1-billion-of-his-own-money-to-cut-social-security )
14. Ratigan Blasts Banking Ties; "Corrupt Congress" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYhUuYjxbjQ )